For Charles Ramsey, no good deed goes unpunished

Charles Ramsey, the man who shot to fame around the world as the rescuer of the Cleveland kidnap victims, has now himself become the subject of scrutiny, after a US website published his history of domestic abuse convictions.

Ramsey, who freed Amanda Berry and three others on Monday, was charged for domestic violence in 1997 and 1998 and convicted of a domestic violence felony in 2003 that ended with a jail sentence.

The 43-year old Cleveland dishwasher won praise for helping Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, Gina DeJesus and the presumed daughter of Berry to freedom after nearly a decade in captivity. His interview afterwards went viral on Twitter, Facebook and mass media, sparking a wave of adulation from the public, including the autotune treatment.

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In the interview, a humble Ramsey peppered his account of the rescue with humorous insights into the circumstances of Berry’s escape, as well as life in the Cleveland neighbourhood. Of his own role, he observed: "I’m a human being. I’m just like you. I work for a living," he said.

"There was a woman in distress, so why turn your back on that?" he said, adding his own father would be disappointed in him had he failed to help Berry.

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Today, Berry, her daughter, and DeJesus are home with their families, while Knight has been readmitted to hospital. Ariel Castro, the suspected kidnapper, is being charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape.

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And it turns out Ramsey, who later told CNN he thought Berry’s escape from the house was "a domestic violence dispute", was himself indicted for "domestic violence with prior conviction" in 2003 over an assault on his then wife Rochelle. A protective order covering his wife and daughter was issued after that offence, according to the Smoking Gun website.

The future internet sensation was sentenced to eight months in prison which he served at Lorain Correctional Institution in Ohio, where he had also served time in the early 1990s for drug abuse, criminal trespassing and receiving stolen property.

Ex-wife Rochelle is currently on an "OK basis" with Ramsey today, the website reported.

For now, with the relief and hope of the Cleveland rescue still in the air, the twitterati are divided about Ramsey.